Taurasi stays positive before WNBA All-Star Game

By Neill Ostrout, STAFF WRITER

Published 11:55 pm, Monday, August 31, 2009

UNCASVILLE -- The first basketball game Diana Taurasi will play in following the two-game suspension she received for her DUI arrest will take place an hour's drive from the site of some of her greatest achievements.

The former UConn superstar, who helped the Huskies win a trio of national championships, sees this weekend's homecoming as something of a Catch-22.

"You can look at it either way," Taurasi said Friday as she prepared for today's WNBA All-Star Game (3:30 p.m., ABC) at Mohegan Sun Arena. "It's the most comfortable state but at the same time the state that was probably disappointed the most. But no one's taking it harder than me."

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Speaking just before she and her West All-Star teammates practiced, Taurasi spoke rather openly and matter-of-factly about her arrest in Phoenix July 2. Taurasi was pulled over at 2:30 a.m. for allegedly driving some 20 miles an hour over the posted speed limit, and her blood alcohol level was later measured at 0.17. The legal limit to drive in Arizona is 0.08.

"The thing I love to do the most is play basketball," Taurasi said. "When I woke up the next morning I put everything in perspective."

Taurasi, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 WNBA Draft, is currently the league's leading scorer and one of its preeminent stars. Her Phoenix Mercury team is among the top teams in the league, going 12-5 in the season's first half.

She was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday but her case was continued to Aug. 21.

"I made a mistake. I'm going to own up to it and there's not much more I can do about it," said Taurasi, who is making her fourth All-Star appearance.

The Chino, Calif., native is appearing in her adopted home state today and is likely to receive a warm welcome from the crowd. She did Friday from the fans who showed up for the open practice both teams staged -- though perhaps not as loud as the cheers for her good friend and former college teammate, Sue Bird.

Bird, however, is confident Taurasi will be embraced.

"Diana's not just one mistake. There's more to Diana than that. We all know that," Bird said. "And if anybody knows that it's the Connecticut fans."

Taurasi certainly has the support of Bird and the other ex-Huskies assembled in Connecticut's southeastern corner.

"Yeah. She's one of my closest friends. No matter what, I'm always going to support her," Bird said. "She knows it was a mistake and she wants to learn from it."

The 27-year-old Taurasi said she's owning up to her actions and eager to put them behind her.

"It's been difficult," Taurasi said. "I was embarrassed. It was a bad situation. But I'm going to use it to make be a better person.

"I've done a lot of good things in my life," she continued. "This thing is not going to define me."